The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Roman World (Cambridge Illustrated Histories)

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good
Review: I really didn't want to give this book as much as 4 stars, but thought 3 was unfair too. 3.5 feels more accurate. If Cambridge has any claim to superiority over Oxford, its History of the Roman World is surely it. While the Oxford text is a horribly unchronological and unfocused mess, this text, (which is not only illustrated to a much greater extent,) provides a reasonably cogent summary of Roman history and highlights most of the important events, people, and themes. The chapters follow a roughly straightforward timeline, but any shortcoming here can be forgiven due to the excellent coverage of several dimensions of the Roman world such as scientific beliefs and progression, provincial territories, trade and agriculture, and military organization. Though the book is authored by several people, direct contradictions of fact are virtually non-existent. The numerous repetitions of certain points across chapters also serve helpfully as a key to their importance by depicting their impact in ways that other historical texts fail to do.

As an anthology unfortunately, it still falls prey to the oddities of using several historiographical techniques to weave together a single tale. A number of the authors also emphasized some trends and turning points in history which were backed only by a couple or very few and unconvincingly important pieces of evidence whose weight a complete beginner might not be capable to judge for him/herself. I think the text is a fine introduction and could supplement even well-versed pundits with several tidbits. I would not however call this work a final authority on anything.